Emma Watson

This week I went to review The Circle, a suspenseful movie whose premise is an exploration of the whole ‘Privacy versus Security’ debate. I was not looking forward to this film; I thought it would be dry and boring but instead I found it terrifying. The Circle got me where I lived. It tapped directly into my fears of being watched and judged and and kept that up for almost two hours. I haven’t squirmed that much since ‘The Witch’. So when I saw it got 5.7 out of 10 on IMDB and 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, I was shocked. What happened? Then I figured it out….Read more

I don’t get Disney’s current trend of remaking old animation classics into Live Action films. Why is that necessary? Maleficent was fun, it’s true, but that was told with a more sympathetic twist to the villain, which I love (plus the old Sleeping Beauty was badly in need of a rewrite). But what was wrong with the 1991 classic B&tB? Nothing, that’s what. So I went into this new one wondering if it was going to be a waste of time. I’m still not sure it needed to be made but I’m absolutely glad they did. Read more

The original Beauty and the Beast, the 1991 animated version, is one of the five best animated movies of all-time; it was so good that it became the first ever animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards. With movie studios going through their vault of hit movies and remaking them, it was inevitable that Beauty and the Beast would get a live-action remake sooner or later. And thanks to the advances in creating special effects that make the unimaginable look more realistic than ever, along with Disney coming off a string of successful live-action remakes (Maleficent, Cinderella, Jungle Book), the studio fast-tracked remaking the “tale as old as time.” Even though the narrative of this Beauty and the Beast is uneven at times, the movie, as a whole, hits most of the right notes. I would say it’s difficult not to compare this live-action remake to the near-perfect animated movie; but, in reality, there’s just no way around it.

Let’s be honest – 2016 was the most underwhelming year at the movies in recent memory. While there was a fair of number great and entertaining movies, the wait between seeing memorable ones felt longer than usual. And while, as the trades have reported, it was another record-breaking year at the box office, inflation diminished the return of some of the biggest movies of 2016.

Thankfully, 2016 is out of the way and 2017 has arrived and studios are doubling down on tentpole movies. It’s exciting to consider what 2017 has to offer, as many movies scheduled for release throughout the year look very promising. As such, it was difficult to pick five movies I’m most looking forward to in 2017.

From Walt Disney Pictures and director Bill Condon, comes the live-action remake of the animated 1991 classic Beauty and The Beast. Composer Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards working on the original, is also returning. Emma Watson and Dan Stevens will play the title leads respectively while the rest of the cast includes Luke Evans (Gaston), Kevin Kline (Maurice), Josh Gad (Lefou), Ewan McGregor (Lumiere), Stanley Tucci (Maestro Cadenza), Ian McKellen (Cogsworth) and Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts). The film hits theaters March 17, 2017. Read more